Well, as a Beta fan-boi you can add your own chicken salt to this review.

Take away - it rides like an all-new platform while feeling comfortingly familiar.

Ergos - the seat/peg/Ďbar triangle sets the rider a little higher than past iterations of the RR. I love the new bar - wider & feels a tad lower. The bike feels heaps lighter moving it around the shed & when riding it, too. It is both racier & yet more comfortable when in standing attack. Seat is rock hard but who cares. Love the new wider pegs, too.

Suspension - I am 90kg aboard & my bike is bone stock (.42 & 5.2 f & r) and after taking it straight into some snotty stuff this afternoon, I was frankly blown away. The fork is simply superb - firm, yet soaks up small rocks really well. I got up the bike a bit, too, over off-camber rocks & there was no sign of the Sachs oc 48mm dreaded mid-stroke spike. Tracks straight, too. Shock was as expected - didnít think about it. The bike hooks up & drives & no nasty surprises. Front to back balance is terrific.

Motor - wow. My brother had a 2013 EC300 rebuilt by Nate that was a beast off the bottom. This motor feels most like a cross between that bike and an Ď18 EC300. Even sounds like a GG - which is awesome! Stock jetting is spot on - & thatís coming from a jetting fiddler. Clean & strong all the way. I am now a counter-balancer believer. Almost no vibes. Also the clutch pull is about 50% lighter than my Ď18. Not sure whatís changed, but itís a true one-finger job now. Gearing on paper is tall @ 14/48, but with all that torque, itís pretty much perfect for my riding.

Fit & finish is on-par with everybody else, ie tops. Brakes - superb.

Niggles - a bit of clutch fluid weeping from the m/c & I cannot for the life of me understand why a motorcycle manufacturer in business since 1904 cannot yet make a bike with a reliable speedo. Mine stopped working at 2km & 0.1hr. Warranty claim ahoy. Shithouse.

I am delighted with the bike so far & am glad I didnít splurge more on a Race. The 2020 RR300 is the best dirtbike Iíve ridden out of the box - including my 2018 Gas Gas EC250.

one of our guys has clocked up heaps of time on his 2020 and i think he'd agree with your summary gibnut.

but yeah the electrics are still sloppy. old mate says the wiring loom finally looks a lot neater but he had enough bad connections that it needed replacing under warranty.

and yeah the speedos aren't up to scratch, quite a few dealers have warranty claim speedos lying around. otherwise the 2020 seems to be a very neat package.

hopefully the main bearing failures were fixed. there have been two cases of 2020 models failing in france and a handful elsewhere. not enough evidence at this point to establish the issue still exists.

Issues - I holed the water pump hose after glancing the pipe off a rock & the pressure squashed the hose between the pipe & a too-sharp chunk of casting run-out on the top lip of the pump housing. Instant coolant dump in a fairly inhospitable section of my loop. Managed to get down to a creek, gaffa the hose up after pulling the pipe & filling the rads with river water.

The hose is made of cheese. Canít justify $230 () for a Samco* hose kit & I canít buy just the Samco elbow () so will cut a section off the split hose to reinforce the new $18 elbow. The clearance is hella tight there.

The speedo reset to zero - a common enough issue already with 2020ís. Ridiculous that a new plastic plate behind the headlight that is meant to secure the speedo cable in fact makes the plugs separate! Iím not even sure if this causes the speedo to reset, but I re-routed plugs behind this plate & so far, speedo is working. If it zeroís again - hello, warranty replacement.

Apart from these glitches - one caused by operator error - the bike is simply awesome. Much comfier to ride at speed than my Ď18 yet great handling in tighter terrain. The bone-stock motor/jetting/clutch/gearbox nexus is bloody tops!

After a ride yesterday & with 80-odd km of rocky s/t now under itís belt, I continue to be very impressed with the 2020 RR300.

After scouting a new section & getting up a couple of (admittedly not super-difficult but new-to-me) sandstone steps at the first attempt clean, I wanted to make the observation that the new longer swing-arm & footpegs that are further back help when finding & maintaining traction.

Iím sure the new chassisí C.O.G. positioning isnít a happy accident - but it makes the sometimes-counterintuitive practise of leaning back for grip when zapping up a rock band a little less intimidating.

The Tube saddles I installed donít really change much handling-wise - they just limit the chance of a pinch flat. I had one Ďoh, shití moment when the fork pushed off-line while giving it some over some roots, but that has happened with me riding on Kayaba suspension, so I wonít blame the fork. Not a fan of the stock Michelin tyres - particularly the rear. Michelin Starcross 5ís will go on when these are shot.

The fuel consumption ainít great, tbh - 1.38L per 10km. Almost 40% more than my Ď18. I really like the stock jetting - N2ZW #2, 38p/165m, a/s 1.25 - & Jody set the float at pd so not sure what else I can do given I believe N2** & NE** needles have the same diameter straight section? That part of the power curve where is where I ride the most.

Maybe a TSP squish correction could give me better mileage? Havenít measured it, donít really care at this point, the bike runs superbly & $250 buys a lot of fuel anyway. I also thought Iíd try the Ďrainí map for a whole ride to see if that makes a difference - havenít touched it yet.

Really lovely bike to ride & very comfy stock for a 6í2Ē 51 year old trail rider.